Steam engine



Nov. 29, 1960 Filed June 22, 1959 w. J. KAVSTNER, JR 2,961,835

STEAM ENGINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Walter J. Kasfner, Jr. I300 A350 INVENTOR.

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' STEAM ENGINE Filed June 22. 1959 s Sheets-Sheet 2 BY gum WWW fiMg Nov. 29, 1960 w. J. KASTNER, JR 5 3 STEAM ENGINE Filed June 22, 1959 '5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Walter J. Ka sfner, Jr.

INVENTOR.

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United St tes. P ent T STEAM ENGINE Walter J. Kastner,-Jr., 213 E. Weatherspoon St.,

' Sanford, N.C.

Filed June 22, 1959, Ser. No. 821,737

Claims. (Cl. 60-108) This invention relates to steam engines and more particularly to a self-condensing steam engine.

An object of the invention is to provide a steam engine to utilize more efficiently the heat energy which it receives.

Another object of the invention is to provide a steam power plant which possesses a number of advantages over ordinary steam power plants or engines. The selfcondensing steam engine in accordance with this invention requires no cooling water, no separate condenser and no exceedingly high pressures or temperatures. Maintenance is simple and it is felt that a comparatively large amount of power is available in a small space as compared to other steam power plants.

Summarizing the invention very briefly, there is a turbine provided with a turbine case and rotor. The turbine case has an opening into which a stream of water is issued and strikes a very hot surface so that the stream of water at once flashes into steam and travels in almost radial planes in the turbine casing to the motor. The outward'velocity of the steam rotates the turbine wheel or wheels of the rotor, and the steam condenses in the same casing that is occupied by the rotor.

Accordingly, the condensate may be drawn off by a very simple waterp-ump and returned to the nozzle for recirculation. The rotor of the turbine is operated in the presence of a vacuum which may be drawn within the casing by a vacuum pump or may be drawn in the casing by using the engine and a relief valve in a manner to be more fully described subsequently. By having the vacuum in the casing there need not be elaborate condenser systems associated with the turbine casing since the steam more readily condenses after it has served its purpose of actuating the turbine wheels of the rotor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a steam power plant constructed essentially along the lines discussed above and which is made very simple in construction and easy to maintain. The engine may operate for long, extefided periods of time with no maintenance, so long as heat is continually applied or intermittently applied in sufficient amount to keep the heated surface at an elevated temperature so that when the water stream impinges thereon it flashes into steam and enters the turbine casing to operate the rotor of the casing.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a steam engine constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l.

.Figure 1.

7, 2,961,835. Patented Nov- Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing the details of the water nozzle and turbine rotor shaft of the steam engine.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view showing the de tails of a typical multi-stage rotor in the turbine section of the engine.

Figure 7 is a fragmenatry sectional view showing the action of the water stream and flash stream as the water. strikes a heated rotary drum and the steam flows in the turbine casing.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a modification of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings there is a steam engine 10 which diagrammatically represents the principles of the invention. Figures 1-7 relate to an engine which includes only the essential features of the engine, 'while Figulre 8 discloses engine 10a of a slightly different c0115 figuration. However, both of these engines are subject to very considerable modification without departing from the invention.

Engine 10 is constructed of a turbine assembly 12 having a turbine casing 14 provided with an upper wall 16, a lower wall 18 and side walls 20, although the walls may have a different orientation, for instance, if the power output shaft 22 is to be operated about a horizontal axis of rotation instead of a vertical axis of rota tion. Casing 14 may be constructed in numerous ways; one of which is to have the casing made of two sections, each provided with bolting flanges 26 through which bolts 28 are passed. Wall 18 is conical and has opening 30 at the apex thereof. The wall 16 has an aperture 32 cooperating with relief valve structure 34 to function as a device to maintain a vacuum within chamber 36 defined by the walls of the turbine casing. Valve structure 34 is merely a hinged door 38 mounted on the exterior of wall 16 and having a compressible seal 40 between the door and the wall 16 adjacent to aperture 32. A combination latch and stop 42 made of an essentially U-shaped rod mounted for rotation through door 38, engages the bottom surface of wall 16 to limit the upward movement of the door 38' so that when 'thepres-i sure in chamber 36 exceeds atmospheric pressure the valve structure opens enabling air and/ or steam to escape from chamber 36.

Turbine assembly 12 has a multi-stage rotor 46. The number of stages of the rotor may be two in which case there are two turbine wheels 48 and 50, however, the number of stages may be decreased or increased. Tutbine wheel 50 has a hub 52 to which wheel disk 54 secured, together with a plurality of slightly curved very thin vanes 56 arranged in a circle at the periphery of the wheel disk 54. Hub 52 is secured'to the lower end of power output shaft 58 which is mounted for rotation in anti-friction bearings 60 and 62 (Figure 2). Turbine wheel 48 has a hub 64, a turbine wheel disk 66 anda plurality of vanes 68 arranged in a circle at the periphcry of disk 66. Vanes 56 and 68 are oppositely curved (Figure 6) to cause the turbine wheel to be actuated in opposite directions. Anti-fricti0n bearing 72 is mounted between hubs 52 and 64 so that the two turbine wheels are held spaced apart at their hubs and so that they are capable of independent rotation with respect'to each other.

Power output shaft 58 has a gear train 76 associated with it and with the turbine wheels 48 and 50. The gear train consists of a sun gear 78 fixed to shaft 58 together with a plurality of idler gears 80 each of which has a fixed axis of rotation established by spindles 82. .The spindles are mounted in bearings 84 cast integral or otherwise secured to the top wall 16 of casing 14. Ring gear 86 is fixed to turbine wheel 48 and is engaged with each of the idler gears 80, there preferably being four such idler gears equally spaced. This gearing causes the turbine wheels to apply the torque thereof to power output shaft 58 in the same direction. N

Bearing 62 is mounted on the exterior of casing 14 above seal 90 which engages shaft 58 and which is carried by a part of the casing wall 16. Bearing retainer 94 on shaft 58 engages bearing 62 and functions as a support for the bearing cage 61 in which anti-friction bearing 60 is disposed. Gear 98 is secured to shaft 58 above bearings 60 and 52 and is capable of being used for its power take-01f for instance, by engaging power take-off shaft 100 shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. Any other suitable power take-off may be substituted for the gearing 98 and 100. I Shaft 58 is hollow (Figures 4 and and has an axial passageway 102 extending completely through it. The lower end of passageway 102 has a tapered seat 104 for the conical tip 106 of valve core 108. The valve core cooperating with seat 104 and pasageway 102 forms an adjustable nozzle through which a stream of water is issued during operation of the steam engine.

Core 108 is supported by anti-friction bearing 110 near the upper end of the passageway 102, and there is an internally threaded bushing 112 beneath bearing 110 and to which threaded part 114 of core 108 is connected. The outer surface of bushing 112 has knife-edge seals 116 thereon frictionally engaging the inner surface of a part of passageway 102 to prevent leakage. Further, the bushing 112 constitutes a transverse partition in passageway 102, below which water discharge passages 118 open laterally into passageway 102. Valve core 108 has a longitudinal passage 120 extending axially thereof, and passages 118 register therewith and with the passage 102 between bushing 112 and orifice 105 whose area is adjustable by adjustment of tip 106 With reference to seat 104. This is achieved by rotating the valve core 108 in bushing 112.

Opening 30 in casing wall 18 is registered with surface 130 of a heat exchange member 132 located adjacent to the opening. A suitable seal 134, such as a groove cut in wall 118 and filled with water, or a carbon or metal disc attached to wall 18 may be used in connection with opening 30 (Figure 7). Nozzle orifice 105 is aligned with opening 30 and supplies a stream of water on surface 130, which is immediately flashed from the stream of water to steam as it impinges on the heated surface 130'. a The heat exchange member 132 consists of a drum 136 having a cylindrical side wall 138 whose outer surface 130 is maintained in a heated condition by means of heater 140. A plurality of annular vanes 144 are attached to wall 138 to promote heat exchange between wall 138 and the burner 140, which may be a gas burner. Drum 136 has a side wall 148 to which the output shaft 150 of an electric motor 152 is coupled by means of coupling 154. Burner 140 is at the end of a fuel supply line 158, and there is a heat deflector 160 mechanically supported, for instance, by the burner 140, Within drum 136. The heat deflector has a comb 162 at one end between which heat fins or vanes 144 project.

Recirculation pump 166 is driven by output shaft 150 of motor 152. Water conductor 168 is connected to the outlet of pump 166, and a water conductor 170 is connected to the inlet of pump 166. Conductor 168 extends from the pump and is connected to the upper end of passage 120 (Figure 4). Conductor 170 is connected to port 172 at a low place preferably the periphery of turbine casing 12 to draw liquid condensate from the portion of chamber 36 which functions as the condensation chamber within the turbine.

Drum 138 is continually rotated during the operation of the steam engine to present a different heated area of the surface 130 to the stream of water issuing from orifice at all times. A refinement of this feature is seen in Figure 8. Steam engine 10a has a drum 136a Whose surface a not only is caused to rotate but also to reciprocate. In addition the burner a is longer than burner 140 to heat a wider area of the drum side wall. g

Drum 136a has a pair of end walls 148a and 149, each of which has flue ports therein, for the passage of air into the drum 136a.so .as to support combustion at burner 140a. A double threaded screw 182 is fixed to structural supports 183 and 184 to opposite ends thereof, and there are two springs 186 and 188 at the ends of the screw 182. One or more keyways 190 extend longitudinally down screw 182 and these are used to prevent rotation of support 191 to which the burner supporting fuel line 192 is secured. This fuel line extends through a passage 194 in a stationary part 196 of bearing support 198 in wall 149 of the drum. Bearing support 196 may make use of the keyway 190 by having a key fitting in the keyway and thereby preventing bearing support 196 from rotating. Anti-friction bearing 200 is mounted on hearing support 196 and is attached, for instance, by screw 202 to the hub 204 of drum 136a, the hub projecting from wall 149 of the drum. Consequently, the drum 136a is mounted for rotation with the axis of rotation established by the longitudinal axis of the double-threaded screw 182. Springs 186 and 188 function as yielding stops at the limits of the reciprocatory movement of the drum.

An electric motor 204 is secured to wall 148a of the drum. The stator 206 of the motor has a key fitting in keyway 190' so that the stator cannot rotate. A rotor which is the outer part of the motor 204 is secured to wall 148a so that upon energization of the motor the drum will rotate along with the rotor of the motor. Nut 210 functioning as a clutch, has a key, pin or the like engaged in the double i.e. left and right hand threads 181 of shaft 182, and the nut is secured to wall 148a of drum 136a. It is now evident that when motor 204 is energized the drum will not only rotate but will also reciprocate due to the action of nut forming clutch 210 engaged with the threads 181 of shaft 182. The drum travels axially of shaft 182 until the clutch 210 becomes disengaged from threads 181 at which time spring 186 is compressed. Further rotation in the same direction of the drum causes the clutch to again engage with the threads 181, these being opposite to the threads that were disengaged, and the drum will travel along shaft 182 in the opposite direction until the same procedure takes place at the opposite end of shaft 182. In this instance, though the bearing support 196 engages spring 188 which is compressed to commence reciprocatory movement of drum 136a in the opposite direction.

In use and operation, suction is first created in the turbine casing 14. This may be accomplished by using a conventional vacuum pump or may be accomplished in the following manner: The power output shaft 58 is held stationary while heating and rotating the drum. Then the water jet is commenced, for example, by opening valve 225 in water conductor 168. The Water is discharged into opening 30 and upon striking the surface 130 flashes into steam or what is considered to be steam. This steam moves radially outward striking the blades of the turbine wheels and instead of losing velocity, except from heating up the blades and casing, forms actual steam under pressure. When the pressure and temperature build up within the casing 12, the steam and air inside the casing will be forced through the safety valve structure 34 thuspurging the casing of air.

When this has been completed, the water is discontinued allowing the balance of the steam under pressure in the casing to escape. Then the turbine may be cooled, either by convection or by spraying the casing of the turbine with cold water, until a vacuum is formed in. the casing. This vacuum remains because no parts of the steam engine are under any pressure greater than atmospheric in order to force the air into the casing. As soon as the engine cools down the turbine may be brought up to speed by an external source of power, for instance a starter motor, and the valve 225 opened to again commence operation of the engine.

The rotor of the turbine has its turbine wheels operating in opposite directions although through gear train 76, the power output is the summation of the torque from both turbine wheels. As the turbine wheels rotate the steam which is flashed off of surface 130 and which enters chamber 36 and rotates the turbine wheels by impinging on blades 56 and 68 thereof, is centrifugally moved radially outwardly within the casing and it impinges on the inside surface of the casing so that the water condensate is collected by pump 166 and returned for recirculation to port 105 by way of conductor 168 and the nozzle structure shown in Figure 4.

In the simplest illustrated embodiment of the invention drum 136 is continually rotated to renew-the area of surface 130 which is impinged on by the stream of water issuing from port 105. As a refinement and for larger power output drum 136a is not only rotated but also reciprocated.

In the preceding description and in the succeeding claims it is said that when the stream of water issuing from orifice 105 strikes surface 130 or 130a it immediately flashes to steam. This phenomenon relies at least in part on the sub-atmospheric pressure within casing 14 inasmuch as the substance which moves radially outwardly (Figure 7) from surface 130 does not appear to have a very high temperature. The kinetic energy of the stream impinging on the surface 130 and the kinetic energy of the resulting substance flashing on. and moving from surface 130 is considerably high. The static pressure is quite low.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A self-condensing steam engine comprising a turbine casing having a plurality of walls defining a turbine wheel chamber and a condensate collection chamber, a turbine rotor mounted in said wheel chamber, a power output shaft, means connecting said shaft to said rotor, a drum mounted for rotation, a heater adjacent to said drum to heat the surface of said drum, one of said turbine casing Walls having an opening adjacent to said drum surface, means for issuing water onto said drum surface at said opening so that the heat at the drum surface flashes the water into radially outwardly moving steam which enters said turbine rotor chamber and rotates said turbine rotor after which the steam condenses in said collection chamber, means registered with said collection chamber to withdraw the liquid condensate from said condensate collection chamber, said water issuing means comprising a nozzle, liquid conductors extending between said nozzle and said condensate withdrawing means to feed water from said collection chamber to said nozzle, means connected with said drum for reciprocating said drum while said drum is rotating, and a purge valve in one Wall of said casing.

2. A steam engine comprising a steam turbine having a casing and at least one turbine Wheel mounted for rotation in said casing, a power output shaft driven by said turbine wheel, a heater, a heat exchange drum having a surface Which is heated by said heater, means operatively mounted in the casing for directing a stream of water onto said heated drum surface through aperture means in said casing to convert the water into radially outwardly moving steam which impinges on said turbine wheel to rotate said wheel and means connected to said drum for rotating said drum.

3. The steam engine of claim 2 wherein there are means connected with said drum for reciprocating said drum while said drum is rotating.

4. A turbine engine comprising, turbine casing means, turbine wheel means rotatably mounted within said casing means, liquid injection means operatively mounted within said casing means for issuing a jet of liquid, heating surface means exterior to the casing means, guiding means fixed to said casing means for exposing said exterior heating surface means to said jet of liquid for impingement of said liquid on the heating surface means and directing deflected streams of vapor into which the jet of liquid is converted against said turbine wheel means for rotation thereof and means for moving said heating surface means relative to the jet of liquid.

5. The engine as defined in claim 4, including recirculating means for condensing and collecting vapor exiting from the turbine wheel means and recirculating the condensate liquid into said injection means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 666,637 Beck Jan. 29, 1901 850,196 Warman Apr. 16, 1907 1,226,500 Fuehler May 15, 1917 1,804,694 Jones May 12, 1931 2,079,923 Pavlecka May 11, 1937 2,456,417 Horsdal Dec. 14, 1937 2,525,804 Kellogg Oct. 17, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,486 Denmark July 26, 1910 666,850 Germany Oct. 31, 1938 513,459 Great Britain Oct. 12, 1939 

